Scottish
landscapes, castles, lochs, seaside's and wildlife.

All
the pictures on this site have been photographed in Scotland and gardens
of Fife. We hope you enjoy the sheer beauty of Scotland, its Lochs, seaside's,
landscapes, castles and wildlife as much as we enjoyed the views whilst
capturing each photo.

TheLandscape Pictures
gallery contains 44 photos of the landscape surrounding Craobh Haven,
Oban, Fort William, the West of Scotland and the Cairngorms.

The
Scottish Castles
picture gallery contains 40 photos, again of castles and historic buildings
in the West of Scotland and Fife. This gallery will be added to in the
future.

The
Scottish lochs
picture gallery has 78 photos of lochs which provides a mere glimpse of
the sheer beauty of Scotland and its natural water reserves surrounded
by unspoiled countryside.

The
Scottish Seaside
picture gallery has 21 photos of the beaches and harbours on the west
Coast of Scotland, largely unspoiled by commercialism.

The
Wildlife picture
gallerycontains 42 photos
of various animals, insects and flowers taken in gardens in Fife, on the
East Coast of Scotland.

A
Short History of Scotland

Scotland
occupies about one third of Gt. Britain and has a violent and tragic past.
Today the legends, songs, ancient castles and ruins retain Scotland's
proud past. The Scots have been moulded by its history and harshness of
weather and land.

Records
show that the first hunters and gathers inhabited Scotland over 6,000
years ago as the last remains of the ice age moved north. The first recorded
history of Scotland was in the first century A.D. by a Roman historian
who referred to the Scots as savage and fierce enemies. The clans of Scotland
united to fight of the invasion of the Romans who had conquered the rest
of Gt. Britain. Unable to conquer Scotland, Hadrian's wall was built separating
Scotland from the southern part of Gt. Britain.

The
Romans left the British Isles shortly after 400 A.D., and Scotland began
to emerge as a Nation of peoples, the area at this time was called Alban
and the four main Clans were the Pics, Scots, Britons and Angles. Invasions
by the Vikings followed and by 843 King of the Scots of Dalriada, Kenneth
MacAlpin and Duncan1 combined forces to retain their lands. War between
Scotland and Norway was constant though peaceful with England, infighting
between Scottish Clans was Common.

A
Scottish invasion of England by John Balliol was fought off by King Edward
1, who then rampaged through Scotland and captured the Scone Stone upon
which Scottish Kings had been crowned for seven centuries. The stone was
placed in Westminster Abbey until it was taken back by Scottish Nationalists
in 1951. In 1996 the stone was formally returned to its rightful place
in Scotland, and is now displayed in Edinburgh Castle.

Scots
continued to free themselves of the English. Robert the Bruce was at the
forefront of these struggles, his uprising was defeated, but Bruce continued
to harass the English armies. By 1314 Robert the Bruce had driven the
English out of every town in Scotland except Stirling.

1372
saw Robert Stewart crowned King of Scotland, the first of a long line
of Stewarts (Stuarts). There was much trouble when James IV came to the
throne, but he managed to control lowland rebellion and tried to make
peace with the highland Clan Chiefs.

In
1502, James IV signed a treaty of perpetual peace with England and married
Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England.

The
Stuart line came to an end with Mary Queen of Scots, who became Queen
of Scotland when she was just one week old. Henry VIII arranged for Mary
to marry his young son and when Mary's mother rejected the proposal, Henry
responded by pillaging and burning Edinburgh and the Border Country. Mary
returned from France at 18 years old, strong willed and a catholic, Scotland
at this time (1557) had renounced the Catholic Church in favour of Protestantism.
Her attempt to rule was difficult and she was forced to abdicate in favour
of her 1 year old son James VI. She fled to England, to her cousin Queen
Elizabeth 1. Due to her claim to the English throne Mary was imprisoned
in the tower of London and later beheaded in 1587.

James
VI escaped form his Protestant kidnappers in 1583 and resumed the throne
of Scotland. Elizabeth 1 died in 1642 and as James was her only heir,
he became James of England as well as James VI of Scotland. James most
lasting legacy is the King James bible, still favoured by many Protestants.
However this union of crowns failed to put an end to Scotland's struggles.

In
1642 civil war broke out in England Between King Charles1 Cavaliers and
Oliver cromwell's Roundheads. Cromwell was the victor and ordered the
execution of King Charles 1, the Scottish proclaimed Charles son as their
King, This incensed Cromwell who invaded Scotland and united the two Countries
under a strong, central, civil Government. When Cromwell died the English
Monarchy was restored to the throne. The Scots felt that they had lost
their independence and the stage was set for uprisings.

The
Jacobite wanted the return to a Stuart King in Scotland and frequently
took up arms to this end. By 1707 the English line of Succession had passed
to the Queen Sophia of the German Hannover family, the Scots agreed to
a union of Parliaments and a Hannoverian succession in return for commercial
equality, their own legal system and the Presbyterian religion. The Jacobite
rebellion grew as did opposition to the union. In 1715 James Edward rallied
the Scottish Clans and was proclaimed King of Scotland, however the great
families of Scotland were not united and the uprising was defeated.

Despite
attempts by the English to disarm the Clans and to ship the Jacobites
to America, the Jacobites rose again. Bonnie Prince Charles gradually
drew support and eventually led 3000 men to Edinburgh to reinstate his
father, James Edward as King of Scotland. After winning several battles
in Scotland, Charles crossed the border and pushed southward toward London,
just over 120 miles from London a decision was made to withdraw to the
highlands to raise more troops. Scotland was however still divided, with
many Clans supporting the Hanoverian side, and a large well equipped army
was facing Charles. Finally on Culloden Moor in 1746, Charles tired and
hungry Highlanders were slaughtered by the English cavalry, Charles however
escaped to the Isle of Skye, and even though the English put an enormous
price on his head, no one ever betrayed him.

The
English response to the uprisings was harsh and extreme, whole villages
were burned and Clansmen were killed or shipped off to the American plantations.
The English tried to destroy the Clan system with the Disarming Act of
1746, no Scot was allowed to bear arms and the wearing of Clan tartans
were banned. The penalty for wearing any part of the highland dress was
six months in prison.

Miraculously
many of the Scottish traditions survived and flourished, making the Clan
tartan one of the most powerful symbols of kinship, gradually the restrictions
were dropped and Scotland entered a period of peace and prosperity which
continues today.